A Bitter Type of Justice

I have been writing this post for the last few weeks. However, now that there is no chance of me being held in contempt of court over it, I'm going to say what I've wanted to say for months.

I told you. I bloody told you.

Today, Thomas Mair was found guilty of murder. He murdered his local MP, Labour's Jo Cox, of Batley and Spen, in June, a week before the EU referendum. He was motivated by far-right views, and tipped into murder by the referendum. As he carried out his appalling attack on that June day, Mair shouted "Britain first," or "independence for Britain." In his bag, alongside the weapons and ammunition, was a leaflet about the referendum.

At the time, I said that senior Leave people had to be prepared to stand by their words and actions. They had helped to create a climate of hysteria, in which an incident like this was made increasingly likely.

And lots of you were not happy with this. I remember being repeatedly told, by people from across the political spectrum, that Mair was clearly mentally ill, that it was nothing to do with the referendum, that I was wrong and sick to draw the connection.

Mair did not use medical evidence in his defence. That means he must be judged to be sane. Hiding behind the excuse of mental health is awful, as it insults those with genuine mental health conditions, and seeks to sweep away what Mair did as 'not his fault,' or 'just one of those things.' It also begs the question of why Mair is any different to those we have repeatedly labelled as terrorists: the IRA, Al Qaeda, the London bombers, ISIS. Many of these groups or people were ordinary, but who also took the messages of hatred and violence to the next level. They may be disturbed, but we do not treat them as such. The judge was correct- if they were terrorists, then so is Thomas Mair.

In fact, Mair did not defend himself at all. He has let his actions speak for themselves. And the jury have found him guilty.

So today I repeat what I said on that awful day. I did not accuse any of you of being murderers, despite what some people thought. But those who shaped and projected the agenda of the Leave campaigns helped to create a climate in which politicians were dehumanised, and in which people were told this was their chance to take back control of their country from the foreigners who were standing between them and greatness.

It is hardly surprising that, in this febrile atmosphere, someone with a violent tendency, with abhorrent political ideas, saw the signals and decided to act.

The Leave campaigns should be ashamed of themselves. By beating the drum of xenophobia, and screaming a message of taking back control, they sent the signals that led to those terrible events in June.

That this message of hatred and bigotry took us out of the EU is bad enough. But that someone had to pay with their life because of it is utterly, utterly shameful.

Today, justice was seen to have been done. But it will never bring back the person whose life was tragically cut short.